Bill Sharpe (born William Jeffrey Revell Sharpe, 19 November 1952, Bishop's Stortford, England) is a British musician, who has worked as a member of Shakatak, as a solo artist, and with others, such as Gary Numan and Don Grusin. Life and career Sharpe was educated at Bishop's Stortford College. From there he studied music at Birmingham University where he gained an honours degree. Sharpe had classical tuition on piano from an early age. As a teenager, his main interest was piano music from the romantic era, but eventually he found an interest in jazz and rock music. He joined several jazz rock bands as a keyboard player around his native Bishop's Stortford, one of the most successful ones featuring Trevor Horn on bass guitar. He worked for the BBC as a tape op and sound engineer at the Maida Vale Studios for six years, engineering sessions for the John Peel and Kid Jensen shows. During this time, in the early 1980s, he was a founding member of the group Shakatak. After Shakatak had achieved a handful of hit singles he became a full time musician. Shakatak Shakatak was founded in 1980. Following three singles that reached or stalled just outside the top 50 on the UK Singles Chart, they had their first major success with "Easier Said Than Done", which reached no. 12 on the singles chart in late 1981. It was followed by the UK top 10 hit "Night Birds", peaking at no. 9 in April 1982, and the album of the same title, which reached no. 4 on the albums chart during a 28-week chart stay. In 1984, they scored their second UK top 10 hit with the single "Down on the Street". In total, Shakatak achieved 14 singles and 6 albums on the UK top 75 in the 1980s. Sharpe & Numan and solo album In 1985, he teamed with Gary Numan, billed as Sharpe & Numan. The duo scored a British top 20 hit with the single "Change Your Mind". That same year, Sharpe released his debut solo album, Famous People, which included the duet with Numan. Other vocalists featured on the album include then-frequent Numan backing singer Tessa Niles, who sang the title track. It was released as the second single from the album, but did not chart. A follow-up Sharpe & Numan single, "New Thing from London Town", was featured on Numan's 1986 album